Kidzworld's Official Blog

You got the info on Final Fantasy XIII, Rocket Racing, and Muscle March in this week’s news post. Muscle March is, as I said, kinda really super unbelievably weird. But now, for your entertainment, I provide the Top 10 Weirdest Games I Have Ever Played *in no particular order* (with some awesome links!):

1. Bust-A-Groove 2 - Oh boy. I remember playing this when I was younger, and being just scared of this final boss. To begin with, he’s a tiny panda. Then he suddenly transforms into a creepy panda man, and it just starts getting surreal right there. *shudder*
2. Noby Noby Boy – You can read my review here on Kidzworld. The trailer released to sell the game was just gameplay, though it may not look like there’s any gameplay going on here.
3. PaRappa the Rapper – Awesomeness. Weird, but still awesomeness. Video for the best song.
4. Umjammer Lammy – Slightly less awesome than PaRappa. Slightly weirder, too, as you can tell from this level.
5. Katamari Damacy – C’mon, you know about this one, right? Still, it had to make the list for this kind of stuff.
6. Rez – Crazy rhythm/shooter game. Nothing makes a whole lot of sense, but it’s entrancing. Here’s a video.
7. Q-Bert – Arcade/Atari title. WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE?
8. Taiko Drum Master – Another rhythm game, this one came with a taiko drum peripheral, rather than a guitar or something. Best yet, you could play the Katamari Damacy theme song in it!
9. Jade Cocoon – The most underrated RPG ever, and also a very odd one. This boss battle gives you just a taste of the oddities.
10. Super Mario RPG – If you think about any Mario game long enough, it becomes clear that they are REALLY REALLY WEIRD. Why is a plumber from Brooklyn in rather colorful clothes saving a kingdom of mushroom people who have a human princess from a spiky turtle who leads whatever goombas are? Also, why is Samus Aran sleeping in Super Mario RPG? Why?!

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing is the biggest kids’ release of the next week, and because maybe the coolest thing about kart racing games is all the characters, here’s a full list for you:

1. Sonic the Hedgehog – No surprises there.
2. Miles “Tails” Prower – Side note: It took me years and years to get the joke on why his name is Miles Prower. Do you get it?
3. Knuckles – Again, not too surprising.
4. Doctor Eggman – His real name is Dr. Ivo Robotnik. I guess “Eggman” was just a bad nickname he got in school.
5. Amy Rose – She was introduced in my favorite Sonic game ever, Sonic CD, for the SEGA CD. As a kid I had a combination Laserdisc/SEGA CD player, and I swear those are both real things.
6. Shadow the Hedgehog – I realize he’s the anti-Sonic and everything, but it still seems odd that a hedgehog can have a gun, like Shadow does.
7. Big the Cat – Another Sonic side character, and he looks about as much like a cat as Sonic looks like a real hedgehog. I mean, look at him.
8. AiAi – He puts the “Monkey” in “Super Monkey Ball.” Otherwise, the game would just be “Super Ball,” which actually might be trademarked already.
9. Amigo – From “Samba de Amigo.” For those keeping score, that’ s Monkeys 2 – 3 Hedgehogs.
10. Ryo Hazuki – The main character from the Dreamcast cult hit, “Shenmue.” Yeah, don’t worry if you’ve never heard of it.
11. Beat – From “Jet Set Radio,” another cult hit for the Dreamcast.
12. Alex Kidd – Oh boy, this is even more obscure. He was SEGA’s main man until Sonic took the stage, and hasn’t been in his own new game since well before you were born.
13. Billy Hatcher – From “Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg” for the Gamecube. He, uh, wears a chicken suit. Hm.
14. Zobio and Zobiko – A zombie couple. Too early for Halloween and too late for Valentine’s Day.
15. Ulala – From “Space Channel 5,” another Dreamcast game you’ve probably never played, but should. I miss the Dreamcast now.
16. Jacky Bryant and Akira Yuki – From the “Virtua Fighter” series.
17. B.D. Joe - From “Crazy Taxi,” which hopefully you’ve seen in an arcade or something. Do arcades still exist?
18. Robo and Modo – Now here’s one I hadn’t even heard of. They’re from “Bonanza Bros.,” which apparently came out in 1990. Ooooookay.
19. Opa-Opa – A living spaceship. Cool.
20. Chuih, ChuBei, ChuPea, and ChuBach – All from “ChuChu Rocket!,” another awesome game for the Dreamcast.
21. Banjo and Kazooie – Xbox 360 version only. Sorry, Nintendo fans like me who played the original “Banjo-Kazooie” on the N64.
22. Avatar – Not like James Cameron’s Avatar or the animation show Avatar, but your New Xbox Experience one. Obviously, also Xbox 360 only.
23. Mii – For the Wii.

So, the September 2009 list of Forbidden and Limited cards for Yu-Gi-Oh came out recently and a lot of cards and decks were hit pretty badly. (You can see my quick summary of the changes by clicking the link above). Personally, I’ve been playing Lightsworn, though poorly, but I’m not a big fan of the milling concept. Lightsworn got by pretty much untouched this time around. In fact, they got a usable card, Green Baboon, but it’s terrible now thanks to a rule change regarding its effect. For a while, I’ve been meaning to try out Synchro Cat, I just needed to get the cards for it. But now, there’s no point since practically every card associated with the archetype has been banned or limited. Poor kitty…

This week I also reviewed Scribblenauts for the DS and DiRT 2 for the Xbox 360. I love the concept behind Scribblenauts. It is a very socialable game and I think that it can be better appreciated as a multi-player game, where there are people around to enjoy those “You had to be there” moments. Unfortunately, I hate the controls and it’s right on the line where it ruins the game for me. Personally, I feel that a lot of the other reviewers are pushing themselves a bit to love the game and look beyond its terrible controls. I think the sequel to Scribblenauts is going to be awesome and all these poor design choices will be fixed. Hopefully, it will be a co-op ish console game or incorporate some kind of group interaction where people must take turns trying to solve a stage without using stuff used by previous players in the group. Demoing the game at PAX, with a crowd behind me laughing and cheering at the weird and wonderful things going on in the game made all the difference in my enjoyment. Playing at home, I can hardly do 5 stages before I want to do something else.

DiRT 2 surprised me a bit, in good and bad ways. I loved the menu, the game is beautiful. However, I simply can’t drive. My inability to handle the curves were really discouraging. At PAX, I demoed Forza Motorsport 3, which features an auto-braking option for people who don’t know how to drive in core racing games. It made a big difference and would no doubt level the learning curve for players like myself.

A boss guide for Mini Ninjas was supposed to be done for this week, but seriously, all you need to do is spam Meteor and you will win. Not a very diverse or exciting guide. Most kids should be able to figure it out without too much difficulty. Alternatively, you could also Ice them or use any other spell. I replaced the boss guide with an article on the banlist instead.

I’m enjoying Mario & Luigi: Bower’s Inside Story right now. I’ve played all the previous Mario & Luigi games and even the original Mario RPG on the SNES, which is where all the timed based attack stuff started. The game is pretty good, but I know it’s going to be a long one. Being a reviewer is tough, sometimes you just need to bog down and grind through a game quickly. I’m also getting some mileage out of Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box right now too. Does the narrator really need to tell me what to do immediately right after Hershel says it? Seriously, I had to wonder aloud if there was an echo in the room.

Almost all of the songs in The Beatles: Rock Band have now been revealed, but one is being kept secret for now, likely an endgame surprise. Here’s the list, in order of the songs’ original release, and with which level the songs will be played in:

# Twist And Shout / Cavern Club
# Do You Want To Know A Secret / Cavern Club
# Can’t Buy Me Love / Ed Sullivan Theater
# I Wanna Be Your Man / Ed Sullivan Theater
# Eight Days A Week / Shea Stadium
# Paperback Writer / Budokan
# And Your Bird Can Sing / Budokan
# Yellow Submarine / Abbey Road Dreamscape
# Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band / Abbey Road Dreamscape
# With a Little Help from My Friends / Abbey Road Dreamscape
# Within You Without You / Tomorrow Never Knows / Abbey Road Dreamscape
# Revolution / Abbey Road Dreamscape
# Birthday / Abbey Road Dreamscape
# Dig A Pony / Rooftop Concert
# I’ve Got A Feeling / Rooftop Concert
# Boys / Cavern Club
# A Hard Day’s Night / Ed Sullivan Theater
# I’m Looking Through You / Shea Stadium
# If I Needed Someone / Shea Stadium
# Ticket to Ride / Shea Stadium
# Drive My Car / Budokan
# Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds / Abbey Road Dreamscape
# Getting Better / Abbey Road Dreamscape
# Good Morning / Abbey Road Dreamscape
# Hello, Goodbye / Abbey Road Dreamscape
# Hey Bulldog / Abbey Road Dreamscape
# Dear Prudence / Abbey Road Dreamscape
# While My Guitar Gently Weeps / Abbey Road Dreamscape
# Helter Skelter / Abbey Road Dreamscape
# Something / Abbey Road Dreamscape
# Come Together / Abbey Road Dreamscape
# Don’t Let Me Down / Rooftop Concert
# I Want You (She’s So Heavy) / Rooftop Concert
# I Me Mine / Rooftop Concert
# I Saw Her Standing There / remainder unknown
# I Want To Hold Your Hand
# I Feel Fine
# Taxman
# Day Tripper
# Back In The USSR
# I Am The Walrus
# Octopus’s Garden
# Here Comes The Sun
# Get Back